nyc

I love being able to share my current book list with you and since I’ve discovered The New York Public Library’s mobile app I’ve been able to download and read tons of books right on my phone for FREE. A bookworm’s dream! I’m currently reading a few books including one that I didn’t think I’d enjoy, Luvvie Ajai’s I’m Judging You. Reason being for the initial trepidation has everything to do with this current “It’s cool to be mean/You can’t sit with us/the only way to get a few clicks is to degrade people” atmosphere. I thought this book would be filled with these snippy antidotes disguised as a smart or helpful read. I was wrong…sort of. It is steeped in shade. The title alone gives that away, however it’s a realistic view of many of life’s everyday situations. It’s not mean for the sake of being mean, it’s brutally honest and so far, I’m enjoying it.

Another book that I decided to give a try was Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. This novel follows the tale of two half-sisters born in different villages in 18th Century Ghana. The tale follows their lineage from their very different beginnings, one sister being married off to an Englishman the other imprisoned in the dungeon below and sold into slavery. It’s most definitely a page turner.

A few other books that I’ve downloaded: No Name in the Street by James Baldwin, Buddhism for Dummies and I’ve also been quite curious about The Nation of Islam so I’ve decided to try and read The Qur’an…I know, very light reading material over here J. Happy reading!

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…PRIDE! If you don’t know, I support the LGBTQ community to the fullest and since 2011 (WOW that feels like yesterday) I have walked in the NYC Pride Parade with my cousin and her wife. I captured some pretty epic footage the first year that we walked in the parade and decided to bring it back just in time for this year’s celebration. This is all raw footage of the day but it does a pretty good job of showing just how much fun the Pride Parade is. Enjoy!

This isn’t entirely new news, but it’s new to me and since I made the trip down the block to my local library to renew my library card (I didn’t know they expired) specifically to try this app out, I thought I’d share the info with a few other New Yorkers who might not be aware of it. Simply put, the New York Public library decided to move with the change and now has an app that will allow you to “borrow” ebooks. The best part about it? No late fees! You download the app, enter your library card’s barcode number and pin and off you go! Like the library however, not all books are immediately available for download, some have waiting lists. For these books, you can reserve them through the app and then see a time period of when the book will be available. As a test, I reserved George Orwell’s 1984 which isn’t currently available for immediate download. There is a 4 week waiting period before an e version will be available (no coincidence there, this country is definitely starting to look eerily similar to the pages of the novel). If you enjoy reading and not paying late fees, check out the SimplyE NYPL app.

Don’t forget, I am keeping myself busy over at sometimesshewrites.com. This is the space that I’ve designated for my writing and this new written piece now has a video to go along with it. It can be seen below or at sometimesshewrites.com. Enjoy!

Let me be honest, I did not like the film Moonlight. I KNOW, very unpopular opinion here but I didn’t. Not to take away from any of the actors or the production crew but I felt like it was a very skeletal piece. The film didn’t feel fully fleshed out and seemed very incomplete, but that’s just my opinion. This dance piece by the Alvin Ailey dancers set to the main score of the film however is a beautiful piece that almost, ALMOST makes me want to give the film a THIRD try (yes I watched it twice hoping I was missing what everyone else appears to get about this film…nope).

Yes, there is a day for everything but I totally approve of Nike’s Air Max Day especially with the release and re-release of a few noteworthy new and old Air Max favorites. I’m a Air Max 90’s kinda gal myself so the new Air Max 90 Ultra FlyKnit Infared’s are a must have.

Check out Nike’s site for more info on the new releases and celebrate Air Max Day on 3/26/17 by rocking your favs!

If nothing else, the country most certainly feels divided. As a NYC’er I am constantly blown away by our ability to hunker down when necessary and come together for a greater cause. Protests, petitions, community check in’s and various other ways have made themselves present throughout my city to resist the corruption, hatred and ignorance currently plaguing the highest level of our government. One thing that I’ve heard about that gave me a glimmer of excitement is the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment’s “One Book, One New York” reading imitative. It’s a call for NYC’ers to all read the same book with an NYC connection or theme at the same time which will hopefully lead to discussions about something other than that guy that won the election (well at least that is my hope). People are being asked to vote on which book should be read by February 28th here (http://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/initiatives/1book1ny.page). The Mayor’s office also snagged the help of a few celebrities (the dreamy Gincarlo Esposito, Danielle Brooks from Netflix’s Orange is the New Black and William H. Macy of the hilarious Showtime hit Shameless to name a few) to campaign for the cause. The books on the list include:

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

The Sellout by Paul Beatty

Personally, I’ve already started reading Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book and I believe it is a very important book for everyone to read but I’m thinking I will try and read them all. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a classic that I actually own but I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve never read and the other books are new to me so why give them a shot? For more information head over to the official website and cast your vote!

Having seen this with my own eyes living in this big ‘ole rotten apple of a city and working at an institute of higher learning, witnessing first hand what students leave in dorm rooms and on the street after the school year ends, I can also confirm that sadly, this does happen. Tons of shit new or gently used items get tossed every year by these kids. I did not know that certain schools set up donation areas for this stuff, which is a good start but it makes it even more unfortunate that these kids would rather toss items in the trash than donate them to someone who would appreciate this stuff. Happy hunting…